Seeing Double (The Perception Trilogy Book 1)

by Alyssa Lynn

  “I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered into her ear. She smiled and kissed his lips while she started moving her hips on him again. He dug his fingers into her legs and he started panting. “Ava, slow down. Please.”

  “I can’t,” she said, digging her nails into his back. “It feels too good.”

  Demo slid them down onto the floor with his back against the wall. Straddling him, Ava continued to ride. He couldn’t control his reaction to her. Wishing this moment could on forever. Her scent drove him wild. Like the smell of a crisp spring night. So fresh. So feminine. He watched her move. Eyes closed. Hands on her legs as she rode him. He could feel his legs tighten under the weight of her. Watching himself move in and out of her had his blood pumping.

  Ava gripped his shoulders and twisted her hips on top of him until she felt his sweet release inside her. She leaned against him and let her body melt on his lap. They sat under the rainfall shower head and stared at each other before Ava got to her feet and grabbed the soap. “Come here, cowboy, let’s clean up this mess.”

  He carefully let his shaking legs bring him up to his feet as he walked over to her and allowed her to wash him. Her hands rubbed over every inch of him as the shower sponge scrubbed at the sweat on his skin.

  When they finished in the shower, Ava crawled into bed and slid back under her covers. Following her lead, he curled up behind her and draped his arm over her waist.

  “I thought we could have a bit to talk about things,” Demo said.

  “What kind of things?”

  “You seem to know all of this stuff about my donor, and yet, I know nothing about you.” He paused, “I hope I don’t offend you when I refer to him as that. I guess that’s just how I know him.”

  Ava rolled onto her side so she was facing him and propped herself up on her elbow. Her messy wet hair was tangled all around her face, but Demo still thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

  “You won’t offend me because I know you don’t mean anything by it.” She leaned down and kissed him. “What is it you want to know?”

  “Everything. I want to know about your past life. About the things you did with Jett. About the things you’ve done for the last ten years. Anything you are willing to tell me.” He pushed his finger into the center of her chest, “I want to get to know Ava.”

  She smiled and began to tell him all about the orphanage and how she and Jett came to be best friends. “He was the only one that didn’t mind playing with a girl. The other boys looked at me like I was pond scum, but after a while they agreed to play with me because Jett basically threatened their lives if they didn’t.” She chuckled at the memory. “We always said we were going to grow up to be rich and stay best friends forever.” Her smile faded away as she took herself back to that night.

  “What have you done since you lost him?”

  “Mostly research. I attempted medical school, but the time that it would take to obtain my certification was more than I was willing to commit to. I didn’t realize that becoming a research geneticist was going to take just as long.”

  “Do you work a lot?”

  “I guess you could say that. I’m in the lab with my colleagues the majority of the week,” she said. “Well, I’m in the lab most of the week and my colleagues are with me some of the time. They’re the main reason I’m here. Without them, I never would have taken vacation and gone out drinking that night, which means I wouldn’t be lying here with you right now.”

  “Then, I’m happy they suggested you take a break.” He reached up behind her neck and pulled her mouth down to his. They rolled around the bed and he kissed her with so much intensity that he could feel her body go limp on top of him.

  “I love how you kiss,” she said, with his lips still pressed against hers. As her hand was making its way down Demo’s stomach, the bedroom door opened and Kaycie came bouncing into the bedroom. Ava rolled onto her back and sighed. “You have piss poor timing.”

  “Get up lazies,” Kaycie yelled, jumping on the bed with them.

  Demo quickly tucked the blanket under his leg to avoid another awkward moment of over-sharing personal events among friends. Ethan stood in the doorway with his hands jammed in his pockets.

  “That was one of the best naps I have ever had,” Kaycie said through a yawn.

  “How can you possibly be yawning if we all just woke up from a nap,” Ava asked with a shitty grin on her face. Kaycie reached over and punched her in the arm.

  “Ladies,” said Ethan. “Do we have a game plan for this evening?”

  “Clubbing,” the girls yelled in unison.

  “You said we better do it now before they find us,” Ava added.

  “I had a feeling that is where we would end up with last night being a relaxing night in,” Ethan said, winking at Demo. “What type of attire am I to put this strapping young fellow in for tonight’s shenanigans?”

  The girls looked at each other and nodded. In harmony, they looked at Ethan and sang, “Slut him up,” and both roared with laughter.

  “We’re hitting the clubs,” Ava sang as she snuggled closer to Demo. “Hopefully I won’t end up on the bar again like Kaycie had me doing the other night.”

  “What do you do on the bar?” Demo asked.

  “It will be easier to show you than to explain it,” Ethan said, heading out of the girls’ room. “You ladies go get yourselves ready. We’ll meet you in the lobby in about an hour. Demo, put a towel around your waist please. This isn’t a show and tell session.” Demo kissed Ava on the lips before he grabbed the towel from beside the bed and headed out their bedroom door.

  Forty-five minutes later, the girls came walking down the stairs to the lobby. Ethan watched Demo’s face as Ava made a grand entrance in a tight black dress with shiny silver pumps. Her hair was let down in waves that barely covered her shoulders, and her makeup was flawless, showing off her bright green eyes and her perfect cheek bones. Once again, she followed Kaycie’s rule about the red lipstick, and held a tiny clutch purse that glittered, almost as much as the bracelets hanging from her wrist. She smiled at Demo and his heart thumped to the beat of a love song.

  Kaycie was in a tight black mini-skirt with a blue off-the-shoulder top and her hair was pulled up with ringlets that tumbled down next to her face. Ethan pulled her in close to him and kissed her as soon as she hit the bottom step.

  Demo, having seen this, walked over to Ava and took her hand. Lifting it to his mouth, he gently ran his lips across her knuckles. She could feel her cheeks burning with desire to feel his lips press against her again. Trying to keep herself grounded, she smiled at him and complimented his attire.

  “You look amazing,” she said.

  “And you look absolutely stunning,” he replied.

  “Well, I know we both look great!” Kaycie said, leaning into Ethan and grinning. “Shall we?”

  The group headed out the door and off to the city of Chicago to take Demo to his first club.

  As they got into the car, already equipped with a driver, they headed down the road and the rest of the group watched Demo’s expression as he stared at the city night life. People were swarming everywhere. Food truck vendors lined the streets while they waved advertisements. Clouds of cigarette smoke filled the air and rose to the flickering street lights.

  “What do you think?” Ava asked, entertained by his facial expressions as his eyes wandered the busy streets.

  “It’s beyond words,” Demo said. “There appears to be something new to look at every time I turn my head. How do you stay focused on any one particular thing? It’s nearly impossible.”

  “Just wait, Demo. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” Kaycie said from the other side of the car.

  They pulled up to a fancy restaurant on the corner of a busy Chicago street. “I thought, since we left fairly early, it might be best to fill ourselves with some delicious food before we go club hopping.” Ethan waved to the driver to put the car in park so the group could exit. />
  “Sounds perfect. Let’s fill up on food and then go drinking!” Kaycie yelled with her arms in the air.

  Heading into the restaurant, they planned for a quick dinner and a few drinks to get the party started before they made their way to the clubs. A few hours later, Ethan gestured to the clock.

  “Holy shit! We better head out,” said Ava. “It’s that time of the night when the clubs start to fill with people.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” asked Demo.

  “Not necessarily a bad thing, but it’ll take longer for us to get drinks at the bar,” replied Kaycie.

  Ethan picked up the tab and they headed out the front door to the car. A few minutes later, the group was hooting and hollering as they pulled up along the curb. Ethan waved to the driver who pulled away with the usual instructions to stay in the city until Ethan called him to take everyone back home.

  Demo watched Ethan put his hand on the small of Kaycie’s back and lead her to the entrance line for Club Prism. Ava looked up at him as he copied Ethan’s move and placed his hand in the same spot on her lower back. She could feel her knees go weak, but attempted to keep her cool since she was wearing high heels and didn’t want to look like a baby deer attempting to take its first steps.

  “You two look amazing together, by the way,” Kaycie whispered to Ava as they broke away from the guys. Ava smiled big at her best friend and they complimented each other’s outfits.

  The girls then turned to see Demo poking a woman in line. She was heavy set and wearing what appeared to be a tube top that was four sizes too small.

  “Demo!” Ava yelled, as her and Kaycie ran over to him.

  “Ava, this woman must be contaminated,” Demo said, still poking her.

  “Excuse me?!” Shrieked the woman, placing a hand on her hip.

  “Demo, what the hell are you doing?” Ava yelled, grabbing him by the arm.

  “I apologize. It’s just that I’ve never seen an expanded human before.”

  “You best get this punk ass away from me,” said the woman, balling her hand into a fist.

  Just then, Ethan came running over to see what the fuss was about. “What’s going on? Everything okay?”

  “We need to find a new place to wait,” Kaycie said, leading everyone away from where they were standing.

  They regrouped at the end of the line and the girls filled Ethan in on what had happened. Ethan began laughing out loud, causing the heavy set woman to look back and glare at them. “Aw man, you can’t be saying things like that,” he said, trying to control the rest of his outburst.

  “I’m honestly surprised she didn’t clock you. Her hands were locked and loaded.” Ava said, running her hands through her hair.

  Going over social rules with Demo was starting to come easier to the group. The girls pulled their licenses from their wallets and looked at Demo, both wondering how they would get him in. Ethan waved them off, “You won’t need those, ladies. You’re with me.” They looked at each other with unconvinced faces, but placed them back in their wallets as they were instructed. Not even ten seconds later, the bouncers waved the group up to the front of the line, shook hands with Ethan, and unclipped the chain for them to go inside. The girls exchanged a “holy shit” look to one another, but kept their cool like this was a regular occurrence for the both of them.

  Ava leaned over to Demo and gave him a warning that he was to be on his best behavior and be considerate of other people’s feelings. He nodded in agreement and followed them through the entrance.

  By the time they got inside, Demo’s mouth was hanging open in admiration of everything that was happening. The girls were entertained by his excitement, while Ethan made his way to various groups of people, shaking hands and complimenting outfit choices.

  “Demo?” asked a suited man from the second group they stopped at. “Where are you from, boy?”

  “I’m fro-,”

  “He’s from out of town,” Ava said, cutting him off. “We’re just giving him a taste of the city life.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, let’s take you all up to the VIP suite and show him how we live it up in Chicago!” The man said, placing emphasis on the name of the city, as if they didn’t already know where they were. He led them through the crowd and up to another set of bouncers who tipped their hats at them as they ascended the staircase to the balcony that overlooked the entire club.

  Looking over the railing, Demo was taking in the entire scene all at once. There were girls lined up dancing on top of the bar, while a couple of people were doing some questionable things at a booth across the room. Drinks were being spilled as people tore up the dance floor and cigarette smoke filled the air. Demo wasn’t used to the smell of cigarette smoke and it was starting to give him a headache.

  “You okay?” Ava asked, noticing him wincing as he looked around.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine. I’m just not used to the amount of cigarette smoke. Nobody at the plant smokes.” She nodded her head and took his hand, leading him back over to the group.

  “So, Demo,” the guy started again, “What is it you’re in town for?”

  “He-,” Ava started, but was cut off by the suited man.

  “Sorry little lady, but how about you let your boyfriend do a little bit of talking.”

  Ava looked up at Demo with concern in her eyes. He caught the look and knew he had to tread lightly. “I was away doing some schooling and my cousin Ethan, here, told me that I needed to come visit him sometime.” Ava squeezed his hand and smiled with approval.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” the guy said, slapping his own knee. “Ethan never brings his family out to meet the crew.” He waved for the server to come over to the group. “Let’s get a round of drinks for these lovely people! We’ve got some celebrating to do!”

  Everyone told the server what they wanted, except Demo, who was getting a whiskey and coke as suggested by Ethan. Demo gave him an annoyed look, but brushed it off when he realized that he wasn’t paying for anything.

  The suited man reached his hand out to Demo, “My name is Brandon; everyone around here calls me Suds, but don’t ask why. Come on over, have a seat.”

  Suds led everyone over to the couches that were lining the balcony and the girls followed Ethan as he took a seat. Kaycie and Ava stared at each other uncomfortably, holding on tight to the guys.

  Finally, the tension was lessened by the delivery of drinks. Everyone grabbed at them like locusts, and started sipping. Demo had a tough time with this drink since it wasn’t as pleasant as the first time he had alcohol, but he continued to sip at it; becoming more and more thankful for the tiny straw.

  After the group had a few drinks in them, the girls were unable to sit still in their seats and wanted to take the guys onto the dance floor. Ava gave Demo a seductive look and grabbed him by the hand, leading him down the stairs. Kaycie and Ethan were right behind them.

  The crowd was dense with people dancing. Tight outfits covered only parts of the college students, leaving little to the imagination. A combination of smells danced under their noses as they claimed their spot on the dance floor.

  As Ginuwine came blaring through the speakers, Ava stood straight and strong, facing Demo. Putting one hand behind his neck, she pulled his ear down to her lips and whispered, “Follow my lead. I’ll do most of the work.”

  Moving her hips from side to side, she ran her hands from Demo’s chest down to his waist. Demo was so fascinated with her movements that he could barely hear the crowd singing, “ride it, my pony.” He watched as she stuck her butt out behind her and shook her entire body. She stood up and turned herself around so her back was toward him. He put his hand out to touch her, but she bent over so quickly that it was like she had disappeared into thin air. His jaw dropped as he met her gaze. She was bent in half, looking at him over her shoulder while she arched her back. Standing back up, she wound her body and made her way back to Demo. Pressing her backside against the front of him, she swung her hips and thr
ew her arm behind his neck, straightening her other arm out in front of her. Demo was feeling a sense of heat taking over him.

  Ava started taking a few steps out further onto the dance floor and moving her body. Just then, another girl came swooping in and wrapped her leg around Demo’s waist while putting her hands behind his neck. Demo put his hands on the strange woman’s waist and looked down at her. When he looked back at Ava and saw the look on her face, he pushed the girl to the floor which caused her skirt to fly up over her head giving the entire dance floor a show of her commando undercarriage. Ava was already making her way in the other direction when Demo grabbed her hand.

  “Ava, what’s wrong?”

  “Really? You stand there and touch another girl and then have the audacity to ask me what’s wrong?” Ava asked. Ethan and Kaycie came running up behind them when they saw Ava storm away from Demo.

  “But she came up to me, wasn’t I supposed to be considerate?”

  “No, you toss the bitch on the floor and walk away,” Ava demanded.

  “Well, that’s exactly what happened,” Demo said with his hands out to his side.

  “Next time, don’t touch the garbage before you throw it to the curb,” Ava snapped, and stormed off to the bathroom with tears in her eyes.

  Ethan placed a hand on Demo’s shoulder and squeezed, “Dude. You never touch another woman when you’ve already got one on the chain.” Shaking his head, he led Demo over to the bar to grab another drink.

  Kaycie came through the bathroom door and ran her fingers through Ava’s hair. “You know he didn’t mean anything by it. He doesn’t understand.”

  “What we did last night... Hell, what we did today… Everything that’s been happening between us. I don’t know how to cope with it all. I know he doesn’t understand, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother me.”